|
THE
ULTIMATE CHARACTER
BUILDER
Our Quick Guide to writing convincing characters
_________________________________________________________________________
|
Building
characters isn't easy. In fact it's one of the
hardest - and most essential jobs in writing.
For first time authors struggling to build characters
with real life and vigour, here is our very own
patented technique.
And
don't feel patronised at being given exercises.
We could name one or two successful novelists
who never start a book without using this very
exercise ... |
 |
_________________________________________________________________________
The
main way to write really strong characters is to know
them inside out - at least as well as your best friend,
let's say. If you have this knowledge, you will find
yourself using it. If you don't have it, you can't.
So the problem of writing character is essentially
a problem of knowing character. And the trick
to knowing them is as follows.
The
Ultimate Character Builder
Begin
with a blank sheet (or screen). And begin to write down
everything you know about your central character. Don't
be too concerned to edit yourself at this stage. Just
let rip. It helps to group your comments a bit under
certain themes, but if that inhibits your flow then
just write and group your notes up later. You should
cover all kinds of themes, for example ...
| |
Back
Story |
Where
did your character come from? What was his childhood
like? Happy or sad? What were his relations like
with his parents? His brothers / sisters? If his
father was (say) extravagant, what impact did
this have on your character? if his mother was
(say) easily tearful, how did this affect him
then? And what about now, in particular where
his relations with women are concerned?
Were
there key incidents in childhood that shaped in
a way relevant to your book's story? Think these
through and note them down. |
| |
Looks |
What does your character look like? You can note
down build, hair and eye colour by all means.
But don't stop there. Find the distinctive things
about your character's physiognomy. Please don't
(unless matter is central to your conception)
just give your character some obvious distinguishing
feature - a scar, a stutter, a wooden leg. Be
subtle. Think of an actor who could play your
character. How would you describe their face?
If you end up with words like 'craggy', 'granite-jawed'
etc for a man - or 'classical', 'grey-eyed' for
a woman - then that's OK, but stay with the image
and try to do better yet. If you need a visual
image to work from, then look through magazines
until you've got something you can use. Pin it
up close to where you work, and work from that.
Don't forget to keep your character's look referenced
through your novel. |
| |
Arc |
All
your key characters MUST have a well-defined character
arc through a novel. This is true even of all-action
adventure stories, if you want them to be any good.
The standard arc might be something like (1) susan
has a fear of commitment, (2) she encounters a situation
in which that fear is put to the test in the most
(for her) dramatic and challenging way, (3) she
either passes or fails the challenge. Either way,
she's different at the end of the book than she
was at the start. So put this arc into writing.
Link it to the challenges of your story; to their
back story; and to their personality. In relation
to this central issue, you should aim to understand
your character as well as a therapist might. It's
critical you get this part right! |
| |
Person-
ality |
It's
usually a good idea to come to this issue a bit
later than other things, as your ideas will have
more depth and subtlety when some of the structure
is already in place. But start to answer as many
questions as you can think of. For instance: Does
your character laugh easily? Are they sociable?
What impression would they make on a casual observer?
What about if they spent an hour talking to someone
in a bar? Do they get angry easily? Cry easily?
Are they self-conscious? What political party would
they vote for and why? Are they conflict avoiders
or conflict seekers? Do they drink, smoke, take
drugs, drink too much coffee, eat junk food? If
so why? What is it about them that takes them to
these places? What are their feelings about sex?
Are they screwed up in any way? Are they sensitive
or selfish lovers? How involved do they get emotionally? |
| |
Relation-
ships |
Your
central character will almost certainly have a
key romantic / sexual relationship in your book.
Good. But make sure this relationship is deeply
sewn into your study of character arc and action.
For example, perhaps your central character seeks
to avoid a certain painful truth, and this is
the challenge around which your story revolves.
In that case, that character's key relationship
should perhaps be with a person who challenges
him to face up to that truth - or perhaps colludes
with him to avoid it. If you handle it like that,
then the romantic element in your novel will be
as core as everything else. It won't just be thrown
in for the sake of it.
But
don't stop there. Elaborate. Why has your character
chosen this particular partner? Is he / she like
the partners your character normally goes for?
Try and explore their intimate dialogue? Do they
go in for cutsie baby-talk? Or hard-edged flippancy?
or reflectiveness? What are their pet names for
each other? Do they encourage maturity in the
other or bring out the less mature side? What
are their disagreements about? Do they row, and
if so how? How do they mend rows? What does he
love most about her? What does she love most about
him? What do they most dislike? What is your predicted
future for the relationship beyond the end of
the novel? If you can get these sort of questions
right, you will start to develop real chemistry
between your lovers. |
| |
Other
stuff |
And
don't just write about all the important things.
Write about the unimportant things too. What food
does your character like? What clothes do they
choose? How do they wear them (ie: sloppily, stylishly,
fussily, self-consciously, etc)? What makes them
laugh? What does their laugh sound like? If your
character were an animal, what sort of animal
would they be? What films do they like? What books?
Are they creative? Do they fart? Can they speak
French? Are they good with money? Are they absent-minded?
Do they like oranges? Have they ever used a gun?
What is their favourite pub game? How do they
fidget? Describe their hands.
And
so on and so on. Many of these questions will
have no direct relevance to your book. But the
more questions you ask and answer, the better
you will know your character |
You
should aim to cover at least five pages with this exercise.
Don't do it all on one day, as you won't get everything
you need in a single go. Give yourself at least 3-4
days for this. Repeat the exercise for your other main
characters. Keep your notes available as you start to
work on other things, so you can enrich your notes as
you go.
The
less central a character is to your book, the less you
need to know him/her. But don't skimp. If in doubt,
do more.
And
the exercise will work. You will end
up with more knowledge than you ever had before, and
this knowledge will transmit itself into your writing.
Your characters will be more life-like, more rounded.
Your book has just got better!
_________________________________________________________________________
The Writers' Workshop Run by Writers for Writers
|
